


Remus Lupin's Best Birthday

by starschaser



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), POV Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin's Birthday, Remus is so loved, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29969694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starschaser/pseuds/starschaser
Summary: On Remus' fifteenth birthday, his friends give him the best gif he has ever received.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	Remus Lupin's Best Birthday

Remus didn’t want to be turning fifteen. He wasn’t exactly sure why he felt such immense dread at the thought of turning fifteen. He wondered to himself if it was because it was a nagging reminder that he was almost of age. Once he was of age, he would no longer be able to hide behind the walls of Hogwarts. He would have to face the real world, he would have to register with the Ministry and live under their unforgiving restrictions. He wanted to hide a little bit longer. He wanted to sit behind the large, magical walls of Hogwarts with his friends, just a little while longer. 

As he woke up that morning, he heard an unexpected thrum of chatter. It was quiet, but he could hear it all the same. He was shocked as he heard the low voices of his friends. It sounded as if they sat on James’ bed, plotting something despicable as always. The sound of voices surprised him simply because every March 10th, since their first year at Hogwarts his friends had woken him up the same way. Their tradition was to stay completely silent until they were sure he was awake, and then they would jump on him and scream the tune of happy birthday until they could lure him out of bed. 

He kept his eyes closed and felt the reminiscent feeling he had that first year at Hogwarts. He wondered if they had forgotten. Remus thought bitterly to himself that he should never expect so much from people. His friends gave him more than enough. He wouldn’t allow himself to feel hurt if they forgot a date that he didn’t even care about in the first place. 

He wondered if maybe his recent melancholy was the reason they didn’t follow through with their tradition. He realized then that they had been distant, especially the last month. Maybe they were forgetting about him. 

He reminded himself that this was his first birthday since his friends had found out he was a werewolf. They had told him time and time again that it didn’t change anything. At that moment though, he was pained with the idea that it had changed everything. 

“You awake Moons?” Sirius asked quietly. Remus thought then that he felt so far away, impossibly far away. He felt himself wishing that Sirius was sitting at the end of his bed rather than across the room. 

“Yup,” he responded quietly, closing his eyes tighter, fighting the urge to cry. 

He heard a loud thump hit the ground, knowing that it was Sirius jumping off of James’ bed. He knew it was Sirius because it was followed by light footsteps sneaking over to Remus’ bed. He had heard that sound enough times to know it anywhere. He felt the bed dip slightly. 

Sirius hadn’t sat on the end of the bed as Remus’ had hoped he would. Instead, he sat beside him. Sirius placed a light hand on Remus’ shoulder, shaking him slightly in an attempt to get him to open his eyes. 

“It’s your birthday,” Sirius told him. Remus laughed lightly. 

“I know,” Remus said, still not letting his eyes open, nervous to look at the face of his friend. 

He just wanted to lie there. He wanted to lie in his unnecessarily large bed. He wanted to lie there and feel Sirius’ presence beside him. He wanted to memorize the feeling of his warm hand on his shoulder, attempting to bring him out of slumber. He didn’t want to think about his birthday or the daunting reminders that came along with getting older. He didn’t want to think about the broken traditions or the fear that those he loved most were slipping away. 

“Oi! Wake up Moony!” James shouted from across the room. His booming voice was a stark contrast to Sirius’ calm and thoughtful tone. The loudness startled him slightly and caused him to finally open his eyes. 

“James,” Sirius said in a warning tone. “We talked about this.” Sirius kept his hand on Remus’ shoulder as he turned to James. Remus looked over at James’ bed to see him and Peter sitting cross-legged on the vibrant red comforter. From the look on Peter’s face, Remus could only assume that Sirius was giving them one of his infamous death glares. 

“Sirius you can’t ask me to be patient. He needs to wake up. Now.” James’ voice was buzzing with excitement. It was the tone he used when he was trying to keep a prank quiet. It was the tone he used when he was up to no good and using all of his strength to hide it. 

Sirius sighed in annoyance and turned back to Remus. As soon as he looked at Remus, his small frown turned into an impossibly large smile. It was one of Sirius’ brightest smiles, the kind he saved for his happiest moments. 

“We have a surprise for you,” he told Remus. The calmness in his voice had vanished. It sounded more like James’ excited tone. 

James finally jumped out of his bed, Peter following close behind, and walked up to Remus’ side. Neither of them joined Sirius and Remus on the bed, but they reached out and each grabbed one of Remus’ hands, pulling him upwards. Remus didn’t resist, he just let them pull him into a sitting position and then waited for them to explain their baseless excitement. Once Remus was sitting and beginning to get up, Sirius removed himself from the bed and stood beside James and Peter. 

“No, stay there,” Sirius said as Remus began to get out of bed. Remus looked at him in confusion. 

“I thought you said you had a surprise. Don’t I have to get out of bed to see it?” he asked, knowing that his friends always got up early and placed wrapped presents in the common room. Remus quirked an eyebrow as the three boys laughed at his question. 

“We do,” Peter said, practically vibrating with eagerness. 

“But you don’t have to go anywhere to see it,” James supplied. The smirk on his face scared Remus. When James Potter looked at you with that mischievous grin, it was rational to fear for your safety. 

“Close your eyes,” Sirius said quickly. His tone told Remus that he was holding back another laugh. 

“You just spent ten minutes trying to get me to open them,” Remus complained. 

“Just do it!” James screamed impatiently but without malice. 

Remus rolled his eyes before closing them. His three friends began whispering to each other, chuckling and hushing, and then suddenly it was silent. 

Remus fought the urge to open his eyes before they told him he could. He couldn’t even imagine what they could have gotten him. Every other year they had gotten him whatever small thing Remus had asked for after months of pestering on their behalf. He had learned by second year that they would never stop asking him what he had wanted until he told them. He had learned by the second year of knowing them that it was better to ask for something rather than keep telling them he wanted nothing. They would never accept that. 

Remus realized that he hadn’t told them what he wanted for his fifteenth birthday. Remus felt an uncomfortable tug at his heart when he realized they hadn’t asked him what he wanted that year. 

He felt his bed dip again, the weight was a little less than that of Sirius. It didn’t feel like any of them. He had grown accustomed to the feeling of his friends sitting at the end of his bed. He could recognize any of them simply based on the significance of the plunge in the mattress. This weight though was completely unfamiliar. 

“I’m opening my eyes,” he told them. He heard no response of protest so he slowly opened his eyes. 

Before Remus could process what he was seeing, he let out a loud scream. He was sure that his fight or flight instinct had kicked in because he felt himself jump out of the bed without even meaning to. 

A huge black dog was sitting at the end of his bed. A huge black dog was staring at him, and panting at him, looking as if he were smiling. 

“What the–” Remus said, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. Just as he started to get used to the sight of the unfamiliar black dog, he turned to see a large stag hovering over him. Remus tried to stay calm, he used all of his strength not to run out of the dorm screaming. He knew that his friends would never purposefully put him in harm’s way, but he was having a hard time understanding why they had brought two wild-looking animals into his bed, for this birthday. If the two wild animals hadn’t already been enough, the large rat that scurried off of the stags back and onto Remus’ bed was some sort of breaking point. Remus felt like he was going to faint. He closed his eyes tightly, hoping that this was just a bizarre dream. He found himself sitting on his bed, as far away from the large black dog as possible. 

After a beat of silence, Remus heard quiet rustling and then he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder. His eyes flew open and he saw Sirius looking at him, sitting in the place where the dog had been seconds before. 

“Do you like it?” Sirius asked. Remus looked around, seeing that the stag had backed off slightly but that the rat was now sitting still on his headboard. He noticed quickly that the dog was nowhere to be found. 

“I have no idea what it is. Why are there wild animals in my bed Sirius? Does that seem like something I would particularly enjoy?” Remus felt himself begin to ramble and Sirius simply responded with a wide grin. 

“Go on then Prongs,” Sirius finally said, ignoring Remus’ ranting. He  _ named  _ the stupid stag, Remus thought to himself. 

But then, it wasn’t a stag anymore. Slowly, the large creature standing in the middle of the room was no longer a creature but instead his best friend. James stood in place of where the stag had been and looked at Remus with the most insanely wicked grin he had ever seen. 

It all clicked right then. There weren’t wild animals standing in his room but instead, his three best friends were there. He looked back at Sirius and from the corner of his eye saw the rat jump off the bed and transform into Peter. They weren’t wild animals — though at that moment Remus believed he could argue his friends  _ were  _ wild animals — they were Animagi. 

“Happy birthday Moony,” Sirius whispered softly as he pulled Remus into a tight hug. Remus felt his heart flutter. 

“I don’t understand,” Remus mumbled into Sirius' neck. He understood slightly. He understood that the three of them had secretly become Animagi behind his back. He understood that it was an achievement only a trio as simultaneously bright and idiotic as them could accomplish. He didn’t understand though, how it had anything to do with Remus. 

“Isn’t it obvious you dolt?” James asked loudly as he jumped on Remus’ bed, interrupting the hug with Sirius that he had been savouring. 

“No,” he snapped quickly, glaring at James. The glare was mostly for breaking him and Sirius apart, not the insult. 

“We became Animagi for you,” Peter told him, standing over the edge of the bed, looking at his friends fondly. 

“Thanks?” Remus didn’t quite know how to respond to the gesture. He was sure it was well-intended. Everything the three of them did for Remus was always well-intended. 

“So that we can make your transitions easier,” Sirius clarified. Remus’ head snapped to look at him as he registered what had been said.

“What?” he practically shouted in response. 

“You told us,” James started. He moved closer to Remus so that Peter would have a place on the bed. “That the wolf doesn’t react to other animals the way he does to humans. When you said that it got us thinking. We did more research than you can imagine Moony. It was dreadful,” James explained. 

“But worth it,” Sirius reminded him. James nodded his head enthusiastically. 

“The wolf won’t try to hurt us when we’re in our Animagi form. And don’t even think of worrying about if the wolf has a different reaction to Animagi than to other animals, we double-checked.” James beamed at him. 

“More like quadruple checked,” Peter grumbled. He still had a smile on his face, so Remus knew that he was joking. 

“There are documented cases of Animagi being friendly with werewolves during the full moon,” Sirius emphasized, noticing that Remus was nervous about the thought of potentially hurting them, or turning them. 

“I can’t–” Remus said. It was all he could say. 

“Moons.” Sirius looked into his eyes and placed his hand onto his shoulder once again. Remus knew then that it was his favourite feeling in the world. The feeling of Sirius’ gentle hand on his shoulder, grounding him, reminding him that he was safe. “We’re not going to pressure you into doing something that makes you uncomfortable. We just wanted to do something that could make your life a little bit easier. We wanted to prove to you that we love you no matter what. Werewolf and all.” Sirius’ voice was soft and kind. Softer than Remus had ever heard. His words sounded planned as if he had methodically thought out how to explain to Remus.

He looked over and saw Peter and James nodding, agreeing wholeheartedly with everything Sirius had said. He felt their love once again. The familiar feeling that they loved Remus more than anything in the world. 

“I don’t know what to say,” Remus said carefully, trying not to burst out into tears. 

“You don’t have to say anything,” Sirius replied quickly. “Just think about it.” 

Remus nodded. He didn’t actually have to think about it. He knew that by the next full moon, he would tell them that he wanted them to be there while he was transformed. He didn’t want to think about the logistics of it right then. He didn’t want to think about how they would get themselves into the Shrieking Shack, or how they would manage to keep it a secret, or how they would probably have to watch him transform to keep the shack sealed at all times, or that they would see him afterwards in his most vulnerable state. He didn’t want to think about those things. He just wanted to sit with his friends and feel the love that radiated off of them. 

He just wanted to sit with them and absorb the magnitude of how much they loved him. 

Up until that point in his life, he had felt loved many times. He had many friends and professors who proved to him that he was cared for. But it wasn’t up until that point that it finally settled in that there were three people in the world who loved him despite everything. There were three people in the world who loved him unconditionally. The three boys sitting in his bed, beaming at him, waiting for him to say something, loved him an unbearable amount. 

Remus held out his arms and all three of them leapt into his arms, not even thinking about crashing into each other. They all whispered ‘I love you’s’ and ‘Happy birthday’ and Remus knew that they were all trying not to cry. As they held onto him tightly, telling him they loved him a million times, he believed them. He truly believed that at that moment, he was the most loved person in the world. He knew that as long as they loved him like this, he would be happy forever. 


End file.
